UN: Pro-government forces kill more Afghans than insurgents

UN: Afghan forces, allies responsible for more civilian deaths than Taliban, other militants in first quarter of 2019

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan and international forces were responsible for more civilian deaths in the first three months of 2019 than the Taliban and other militants, a new U.N. report said Wednesday. It marks the first time in recent years that civilian deaths attributed to government forces and their allies exceeded those blamed on their enemies.

The statistics reflects what many say is a growing problem in Afghanistan's brutal war, in which civilians die not only in suicide bombings and insurgent attacks but also in the cross-fire as Afghan forces and international allies pursue militants.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported Wednesday that 581 civilians were killed between Jan. 1 and March 31, with Afghan forces and their allies responsible for 305 of those deaths. The insurgents were responsible for wounding more civilians than the coalition forces, the report said.

Nearly half of the civilian deaths attributed to Afghan forces and their allies occurred during airstrikes, while some of the other civilians were killed during searches and raids of militant hideouts. U.S. forces carry out airstrikes when called to assist Afghan forces.

More than 50% of the civilians killed were women and children, said Richard Bennett, UNAMA's human rights director.

"These tactics have resulted in a high proportion of deaths of civilians," raising U.N. concerns, he said, referring to airstrikes and search operations.

"Every death, every injury is a tragedy for civilians," said Bennett. "This remains an intense conflict and there are way too many civilians being killed and injured by all parties."

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani earlier this year urged his ground forces to take greater care to protect civilian lives while conducting search operations.

The resurgent Taliban, who now control nearly half the country, have also asked their fighters to avoid civilian casualties in their near-daily attacks on government forces.

U.S. military spokesman Col. Dave Butler said a cease-fire would be the "best way to end the suffering of non-combatants."

But the Taliban have refused to negotiate directly with Ghani's government, even as they hold talks with a U.S. peace envoy. Talks that were to start last week in Qatar with the Taliban and an array of prominent Afghans, including government officials and opposition representatives, were scuttled after a falling-out between the two sides over who should attend.

Butler said U.S. forces are also concerned over the civilian deaths.

"We hold ourselves to the highest standards of accuracy and accountability. We strive for precision in all of our operations," he told The Associated Press.

Last year's U.N. report was the first to show a dramatic hike in civilian deaths by pro-government forces, including more than 1,000 civilian casualties from airstrikes, the highest since the U.N. began keeping track 10 years ago.

In September, Masih Rahman's family of 12 — his wife, four daughters, three sons and four nephews — were killed when a bomb flattened their home in the Taliban-controlled Mullah Hafiz village in central Maidan Wardak province.

"It's not just my family, there are dozens of families just like mine who have been lost in bombings," Rahman told The Associated Press this week. "The people have no power. ... We are the ones who are dying."

Rahman, who was working in Iran at the time of the airstrike, blamed both pro-government forces and the Taliban, saying a Taliban-run prison was located just 400 meters (yards) from his home.

He has since sought redress from the U.N. and has also taken his case to Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission, which put out its own report on civilian casualties on Tuesday.

The commission said 11,212 civilians were killed or wounded between March 31, 2018, and March 31 of this year. In just the last 10 years of Afghanistan's 17-year war, the commission said 75,316 Afghan civilians had died.

"A shocking number of civilians continue to be killed and maimed each day," said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan.

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This story has been corrected to show the Afghan commission says 11,212 civilians were killed or wounded, not hurt or wounded, between March 2018 and March this year.